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She's competed at the CrossFit Games four times. She stood on the podium twice. In her final year of competition, she took 8th at the Central Regional—in a boot and with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
She's Julie Foucher, and now, in "retirement," she's fighting chronic disease with two swords: fitness and family medicine.
In this episode, she and Sean Woodland talk about the memorable moments from her years as a CrossFit Games competitor, how she honed her mindset to build confidence, why she wanted to become a doctor and how she plans on helping her patients with fitness.
Links:
"Founder, Farmer, Tinker, Thief"
"Two-Brain Business"
"Two-Brain Business 2.0"
"Help First"
Free Tools
Contact:
http://juliefoucher.com/
Instagram: @juliefoucher
Timeline:
2:30 – Finding CrossFit in the dorms at the University of Michigan.
4:31 – Becoming a competitor.
5:41 – Lessons in confidence.
8:57 – Training for the Games while in medical school.
12:31 – Taking 2013 off from competitive CrossFit.
14:01 – Returning to the Games in 2014 and developing her mental game.
17:11 – Going out with a ruptured Achilles.
19:22 – Accepting the end of her competitive career.
21:16 – From high-school biology to engineering major to pre-med student.
24:00 – Which is harder: medical school or competing at the CrossFit Games?
26:32 – Staying focused for nine years before officially starting a career in medicine.
27:44 – What makes a good doctor?
28:39 – Bridging CrossFit and medicine.
32:01 – Health care and personal accountability.
33:38 – Health and the power of the mind.
35:52 – Fitness post-CrossFit Games.
40:46 – Lessons from the journey from athlete to doctor.
What will get more people to click on your ad: a dude deadlifting or a grandma flipping a tire? The answer could be both. Or neither. It's all about targeting and testing.
In this episode of Two-Brain Radio, digital marketing expert Mateo Lopez talks creative: How to tell which images and copy generate the most leads, how often you should change your ad creative and whether or not you need fancy equipment to get the job done.
Links:
Free Tools
Driven Nutrition
Contact:
mateo@twobrainbusiness.com
mike@twobrainmedia.com
Timeline:
3:49 – Best practices for ad images.
5:00 – Changing times: Why you need video ads.
7:05 – Evaluating ad performance.
10:43 – Facebook and dynamic creative.
12:34 – Square one: Creative on a budget.
14:18 – Stock photos vs. originals.
17:42 – Sometimes winners become losers—and vice versa.
20:03 – Going against the grain.
22:06 – Big Brother: What you can’t do and how to do it anyway.
25:15 – Experiment and track.
26:47 – Stock photos, the Two-Brain Marketing library and how to “spy” on other business owners’ ad campaigns.
28:36 – When to DIY and when to go pro.
30:00 – Screw up? Don’t sweat it; just adjust.
Too many gym owners are eating table scraps.
That is, they wait to pay themselves until all other expenses are covered, and they're left with a pittance—if anything—as profit.
In his book "Profit First," Mike Michalowicz posited a revolutionary cash-flow management system: Business owners pay themselves first, ensuring they make the profit they need to serve another day.
John Briggs, founder of Incite Tax in Sandy, Utah, has adapted Michalowicz's philosophy and program especially for microgym owners. His book, "Profit First for Microgyms," will be available in January 2020, and in this episode of Two-Brain Radio, he and Chris Cooper talk about why microgym owners should take profit first, how to do that and make sure everything else still gets paid and how much to save for taxes.
Links:
Pre-order "Profit First for Microgyms" by John Briggs
Incite Tax
Timeline:
2:08 – Why the profit first concept isn’t greedy.
5:56 – Lessons from toothpaste.
9:38 – Adapting “Profit First” for the microgym industry.
12:17 – The seven essential accounts.
14:24 – How much gym owners should allocate to staff pay.
18:24 – Customizing profit first for each stage of the entrepreneur’s journey.
22:47 – On the writing process.
24:32 – Removing the temptation account.
28:03 – On taxation and entitlement programs: limiting how the government spends your money.
What are the most important things gyms should do when it comes to programming? What was it like to compete on champion teams CrossFit Mayhem and CrossFit New England? What's it like to have your mother beat you at Isabel? CrossFit Games veteran and longtime CrossFit Seminar Staff member James Hobart is here with the answers to all that and more on this episode of Two-Brain Radio.
James has competed at the Games five times as part of a team and thrice as an individual, winning the Affiliate Cup three times with two different teams. He's also co-owner of CrossFit ONE Nation Boston, and after nearly a decade on the Seminar Staff, he now runs gym programming service The HAM Program with Games vets Spencer Hendel and Austin Malleolo.
In this episode, he shares some of his favorite memories from his competition and Seminar Staff days, what makes for good gym programming and how to get your loved ones into fitness.
Links:
CrossFit ONE Nation
The HAM Plan
Free Tools
Contact:
Instagram: @jameshobart
Timeline:
1:56 – From the kettlebell scene to CrossFit.
4:22 – James’ first CrossFit Level 1 experience.
6:39 – The evolution of the CrossFit seminars over time.
9:28 – Safe-for-work seminar stories.
11:30 – Falling into competition.
14:54 – What makes a great team in CrossFit competition.
18:44 – Training with Rich Froning and CrossFit Mayhem: “We’re gonna work out till one of us dies or we win the CrossFit Games.”
20:57 – Highlights from CrossFit Games competition.
23:26 – Stepping back from competition.
26:20 – The HAM Plan.
28:07 – What does good gym programming look like?
31:30 – How to become a good programmer.
32:45 – The mysterious appearance of an AbMat, a 45-lb. plate and a barbell: James’ mother becomes a CrossFitter.
35:46 – How to get your loved ones into fitness.
37:33 – Coaching—and being coached by—James’ mother.
39:25 – Looking to the future: Running an affiliate, programming for Sanctionals and competing with his wife.
41:51 – Top lessons learned after more than a decade in the CrossFit community.
Two-Brain Radio: How to Turn Prospective Clients Into Paying Clients
Too many gym owners spend precious time and money acquiring leads only to leave money on the table.
Maybe they don't feel like responding to a request for info at 9 p.m. Maybe they give up after the first call goes to voicemail. Maybe they just don't like selling.
But just a little extra time and effort spent pursuing those leads—people who have opted in and asked for more info—could lead to great reward.
In the second installment of our special series, Two-Brain Media's Mike Warkentin interviews digital marketing expert Mateo Lopez—our regular host. This week, the two are all about those digits. Specifically, what to do with 'em once you've got 'em.
Links:
Free Help Kit
UpLaunch
Contact:
mateo@twobrainbusiness.com
mike@twobrainmedia.com
Timeline:
2:40 – Mike tries to swipe Mateo’s digits.
4:33 – The point of digital marketing: to get contact info.
6:27 – What should you do after someone opts in to an ad?
7:26 – The need for speed.
9:19 – Uncomfortable selling? Remember, they’re asking for it.
11:29 – Being a real person in the age of marketing bots.
15:00 – Not everyone will want to talk to you—but you don’t need everyone.
17:16 – It’s like baseball: Fail seven out of 10 times and you’re an all-star.
19:12 – What’s a good conversion rate?
20:41 – Putting it into perspective: LEG.
22:38 – Netflix and the loss leader perspective.
24:07 – Speed and persistence.
25:15 – When should you give up on a lead?
27:24 – How often should you reach out to a lead?
28:57 – Whether it’s you or someone else, dedicate a role to immediate response.
Ever thought about what you can learn about risk management from a brothel? As it turns out, a lot—and that's just one of many risk-management examples author Allison Schrager uses in her book "An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk."
In this episode of Two-Brain Radio, Chris speaks with Allison to understand how the risk-management principles that guide other high-end service providers can apply to microgym owners.
You'll also learn how to compete with big chain gyms charging $10 a month, how the commoditization of fitness training with technology could actually help your business and how to best position your offerings in the face of a recession.
Links:
"An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: An Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk."
Contact:
Timeline:
1:59 – Allison’s passion for teaching risk management.
3:02 – Risk management: Lessons from the pro poker world.
6:31 – How to mitigate risk when opening a gym.
8:12 – Don’t just take risks for risks' sake: You need a clear goal.
9:26 – Defining risk.
11:07 – There’s a recession looming. Should gym owners be worried?
13:42 – In the face of an economic downturn, focus on high-touch services.
14:39 – How Equinox got Allison hooked.
17:40 – The industrial revolution and personal training.
19:33 – There’s no escaping Jeremy.
21:21 – On differentiating yourself in a commoditized market.
26:37 – Virtual personal training: a high-touch service at a more accessible price.
28:52 – The second wave of industrialization: technology.
31:43 – Eliminating the mediocre and how technology can enhance your service without replacing it.
33:34 – Allison’s first trip to the brothel.
36:27 – Learning negotiation and risk-management tactics at Bunny Ranch.
39:34 – Balancing the personal and the technological in fitness service.
Two-Brain Radio: Tanya Wagner—Athlete, Analyst, Affiliate Owner
Tanya Wagner was the third woman to win the CrossFit Games and the last to do it at the historic ranch in Aromas, California. She and her husband Josh also own CrossFit Apex in Souderton, Pennsylvania.
Tanya and Sean talk about how she got into CrossFit, what the competitive landscape looked like more than 10 years ago, what it was like to be a color commentator for the CrossFit Games and how she incorporates fitness into raising her two children today.
Links:
CrossFit Apex
"Founder, Farmer, Tinker, Thief"
"Two-Brain Business"
"Two-Brain Business 2.0"
"Help First"
Free Tools
Contact:
Instagram: @tanewagner
Timeline:
1:48 – Before CrossFit: Tanya, the aggressive goalie.
2:52 – Filling the post-collegiate competitive void with CrossFit.
4:15 – She never meant to open a gym …
6:13 – The 2008 CrossFit Games: unknown names and redlining workouts.
8:54 – Taking second in 2008.
11:30 – Winning in 2009: $5,000 and a golden sledgehammer.
13:34 – Witnessing the birth of a new era in the Sport of Fitness.
17:32 – Joining the CrossFit media team.
18:57 – Donning the headphones at the 2012 Central East Regional: “It was a mess.”
20:19 – Learning how to be a CrossFit analyst.
22:56 – Remaining neutral when you’re friends with the athletes.
25:39 – Motherhood: a new season of fitness.
28:40 – Kids who tire-flip the cat-food bag.
30:40 – What Tanya misses most about competition.
32:42 – The best part of it all: sharing CrossFit with others.
Two-Brain Radio: Marketing Podcast Take-Over With Mike Warkentin
This week, we're turning the tables on you. Mike Warkentin of Two-Brain Media is hosting this episode of Two-Brain Radio, and his guest? None other than digital marketing expert Mateo Lopez.
Mike owns CrossFit 204 in Winnipeg, Canada, so he understands the problems small-business owners face: tight budgets, lack of marketing expertise and fear of seemingly complicated ad algorithms. He grills Mateo on how digital marketing works, which advertising mediums are best and how to understand the numbers behind it all.
If you're a small-business owner struggling to see the value of paid advertising or are simply confused by it, this is the episode for you.
Links:
Free Help Kit
Affiliate Guard
Contact:
mateo@twobrainbusiness.com
mike@twobrainmedia.com
Timeline:
4:07 – Horror stories from inside the radio biz.
6:33 – Two-Brain Marketing’s humble origins.
11:09 – Mateo’s first Facebook ad campaign.
13:50 – Calculating ROI and the magic matrix: “It’s just math.”
17:12 – What you need to do before you turn the ads on.
19:29 – How to tell if a marketing platform is worth the investment.
22:42 – The advantage of digital marketing: You can tweak it in real time based on real results.
25:23 – Branding vs. direct response marketing.
Food for Thought Friday - Are You Doing Your Clients a Disservice?
Is your on-ramp program more assembly line than training tool?
Many gyms put new clients through an on-ramp class and then shuffle them to group classes after the on-ramp program is over—regardless of that client's actual abilities. The trainer might not even know what the new client's abilities truly are.
Here's why you should consider PT for newbies instead.
Two-Brain Radio: Fat People on Mars
In this quick and dirty episode of Two-Brain Radio, Chris Cooper tackles the goal of all of humanity: the pursuit of happiness. And to be happy, you've got to be healthy.
That's where you come in. Fitness professionals are leading the pursuit of fitness—and therefore happiness.
That's why our goal is to produce 1 million fitness entrepreneurs: to lead our species forward and produce more healthy, happy people.
Links:
Paying Attention to Mental Health With Colm O'Reilly
Craig Hysell's daily blog
Bonnie Skinner on depression
Daily directive exercises with Mark Divine
Contact:
chris@twobrainbusiness.com
Timeline:
00:32 – The wealth of modern humankind.
2:37 – Losing the fight to conquer ourselves.
3:31 – Happiness: the ultimate goal.
4:28 – To be happy, you need to be healthy.
5:20 – Fitness professionals: leading the pursuit of health—and therefore, happiness.
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